Ghosts on a Ship
by Kyarorain
Summary: Instead of resting in peace, Saturos and Menardi are haunting Isaac and co. on their new ship. Will the poor Adept quartet ever get rid of their unwanted guests?


Ghosts on a Ship

* * *

Sure, Halloween may be past... but I still have an urge to write about ghosts. Random humour abound. I warn you, these ghosts may have rather disturbing natures... but then again, the dead get pretty vengeful. So don't go screaming at me... because it's all about revenge. The fun kind.

Camelot indeed owns Golden Sun, hurray!

* * *

"Babi's ship sure is pretty nice," Isaac said, flinging himself onto a comfy couch. "It already came furnished and it's all nice and clean. They kept it in good condition."

"Except for the herd of Jellyfish we found in the bowels of the ship, it's good," Ivan said in satisfaction.

"He sure had a lot of books," Garet said, as he looked at a bookshelf stacked high with books. "I don't like reading books."

"Can you read books, Garet?" Ivan asked innocently.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Garet shot a glare at Ivan. "I'm not stupid or anything."

"What kind of books are there?" Mia pulled a worn paperback out of the book cupboard and flicked through it, looking at the scrawled pen writing. "Oh my." Mia suddenly flushed with embarrassment.

"Huh? Let me see," Garet demanded, wrenching the book from Mia's hands. "Oh, wow!"

"I want to see!" Ivan exclaimed, rushing over. However, Garet held the book out of his reach and pushed him back.

"You're too young to read this," Garet taunted.

"And you're not?" Ivan scowled.

"What is it?" Isaac sat up, raising an eyebrow in curiosity. "What's so special about the book?"

"Here," Garet said, running over and showing Isaac the passage.

"Wow." Isaac gaped in shock. "Babi didn't seem like the kind of person who was into those things."

"And he left them here for us to read." Garet grinned deviously. "What a treat."

"Mia?" Ivan was currently staring at a different book, his forehead furrowed in confusion. "How does a rooster get into a cat?"

"Ivan!" Mia flushed even deeper red, snatching the book from him. She disgustedly tossed it back on the shelf. "I can't believe Babi would leave this filthy trash lying around. We should get rid of it."

"No way!" Garet exclaimed.

"Guys, we borrowed the ship from Babi," Isaac said. "We should at least leave his stuff untouched."

"Hey, Isaac," Garet said. "If Babi dies, do we get to keep the ship? I mean, he gave it to us so we could go and get Lemurian draught for him and save his life."

"Garet!" Ivan was shocked. "Babi gave this ship to us in good faith. Although... yeah, I don't know. Babi did look pretty close to death. Do you think he can hold on long enough?"

"I like this ship," Garet said. "Is there any reason not to like it?"

"This," Mia said, pointing at the bookshelf.

"But that's a good reason, Mia," Garet protested.

"We have different beliefs, then," Mia said shortly, narrowing her eyes in annoyance.

"Fine by me," Garet said, clutching the book to his chest. "So what do you think, Isaac? If Babi croaks, do we keep the ship?"

"Possibly," Isaac replied. "This ship isn't so bad. I certainly like it."

"Okay, how about we name our new ship?" Ivan suggested.

"Babi isn't dead yet," Mia said.

"Eh, he will be soon," Garet said dismissively. "How about the Good Ship Lollipop?"

"Yellow Submarine!" Ivan said enthusiastically.

"One, it's not yellow. Two, it's not a submarine," Isaac said wearily. "And Garet, why name it after lollipops?"

"How about the Mayflower?" Mia suggested.

"The Victory," Isaac said.

"Jolly Roger!" Ivan said.

"It's not a pirate ship," Garet argued.

In the end, the Adepts settled for calling the ship Romance, for some reason. It was something to do with Garet's love for the bad romance novels and how he said they were very much a part of this ship. Mia wasn't too impressed, but she eventually gave in. And thus, the Romance Ship sailed on over the sea towards a random destination. That night, Isaac, Garet, Ivan and Mia all went to sleep belowdecks, excited about what the next day had to bring them.

In the night, two figures drifted through the walls, looking around and exploring the ship.

"Romance, huh? Can you believe they called the ship Romance?"

"It's not fair is it? We don't get to have any more romance because we're dead!"

"Are you still crying about that?"

"Why did we even bother climbing out of that lighthouse?"

"We didn't, Saturos. We floated out and invaded their ship."

"If we stay here long enough, Menardi, they will wish they had called it Ghost Ship."

"That's lame."

"You're mean!"

Ivan stirred and talked in his sleep about pink bunnies, startling the ghosts of Saturos and Menardi out of their escalating argument. They quickly fled into hiding in a random corner of the ship before Ivan could wake up and see them. They were going to surprise Isaac and co. eventually. Just not yet.

* * *

A week later, Isaac and co. were still blissfully unaware that Saturos and Menardi were haunting their ship. They simply assumed that the food disappearing out of the larder was Garet's fault, no matter how hard he protested that he had in fact not eaten half their rations. As for things landing on the floor, that was blamed on the turbulence caused by the waves. Saturos and Menardi began to feel slightly annoyed that their efforts were going ignored. Sooner or later they would just have to show themselves.

However, Isaac and the others were busy right now. Somehow, they had got through this sea of shifting currents and were now fighting a violent merman. Said merman was not being hurt at all by their attacks and sent them packing. The group glumly sailed out the Sea of Time to lick their wounds.

"It doesn't look like we can get into Lemuria," Garet said matter-of-factly. "Back to searching for Jenna."

"I suppose Lord Babi won't be able to hold on long enough," Mia said. "Well, at least we get to keep this nice ship. I do like being out here with the sea around me. It's very calming."

"Yes, we love this ship," Ivan said.

"I guess we should go and rest now." Isaac groaned and rubbed a sore shoulder as he walked towards the cabin. "That guy really did a number on us."

Isaac, Garet, Ivan and Mia all walked into the cabin and stopped as they heard talking coming from the kitchen. The group looked at each other in puzzlement, wondering how there could be someone else in the ship. It was unlikely that someone had simply swam up and climbed on their ship.

"Isaac," Mia whispered. "You go check it out."

"Why me?" Isaac whispered back.

"You're the leader. You're the brave one," Ivan said, looking anxious. "Please go, Isaac."

"Yeah, go on," Garet said, also looking a little worried, though he tried to hide it. "You go on by yourself."

"What's the matter, Garet? Are you scared?" Ivan asked slyly.

"No, I'm not!" Garet shouted.

"Ssh!" Mia hissed. "They might hear us!"

"I would think anyone on the ship would know we're already here," Ivan said. "But how did they get past us for that matter?"

"Okay, I'm going in," Isaac said, bravely holding up a wooden bat.

Garet, Ivan and Mia watched on in nervous anxiety as Isaac crept towards the closed kitchen door. The Venus Adept drew in a deep breath and gripped the door handle. He quickly pushed open the door and walked into the kitchen, swinging the wooden bat in a threatening manner.

"Whoever's in there..." Isaac looked around the kitchen and froze, his mouth hanging open in his shock.

There was a very good reason for Isaac to be shocked. His two old archenemies, Saturos and Menardi, were sitting at the kitchen table and talking to each other. However, they had broken off their conversation and were now smiling innocently at Isaac. Isaac gaped and backed away, pointing at them with a shaking finger.

"You... you're supposed to be..." Isaac spluttered.

"Dead?" Menardi suggested.

"We are dead," Saturos said. He stood up and walked through the table then stood in the middle and bowed. "See?"

"Who is it, Isaac?" Garet ran to the door and saw what had shocked Isaac. "Holy crap!"

"You look like you saw a ghost," Ivan said as he walked to Isaac's side and looked at his face. Then Ivan looked along the length of Isaac's shaking arm and towards the direction he pointed in. Ivan blanched. "Oh. I'm sorry. You just did. And so did I."

"Saturos and Menardi!" Mia cried out as she stood next to them. "I don't believe it!"

"We remained on the surface as ghosts." Menardi flipped back her transparent blonde hair. "We decided to invade your ship and haunt you. What kind of a name is Romance, anyway?"

"Sorry about eating your food and making a mess," Saturos said. "We were trying to tell you you had ghosts on your ship. But you annoying, pesky kids couldn't even figure it out. Turbulence my ass!"

"Look, uh," Isaac said finally. "This is our ship. Could you get off it please?"

"Hah! You see!" Garet turned to Ivan with a big smile on his face. "I said I didn't eat the food!"

"Get off?" Menardi looked surprised.

"Why would we want to do that?" asked Saturos.

"Let's just ignore them," Ivan said. "They'll get bored eventually."

Saturos and Menardi glared as the Adepts proceeded to leave the kitchen and head towards their comfy sleeping quarters. They would regret their mutual decision to ignore the Proxian ghosts. Saturos and Menardi sat down and began plotting their devious revenge.

* * *

Ivan woke up one morning feeling completely fine. They had been doing great on their journey so far. The ghosts were absolutely no bother, not even when they sat on the table at mealtimes and stared sulkily at everyone or floated around the room reading Babi's trashy romance novels out loud. Well, actually, Mia minded the romance novel thing, but Garet certainly didn't and Ivan found it very interesting yet confusing. Isaac simply stuffed his ears with cotton wool. So, it had been a comfortable couple of months and they had just gained access to the Western Sea so things were looking up. Jupiter Lighthouse was not far ahead now.

"Good morning!" Ivan said cheerfully, walking into the kitchen where Garet, Isaac and Mia were already eating breakfast. He sat down and grabbed some toast, reaching out for the knife. Ivan was just about to spread butter on his toast when he noticed that everyone was staring at him.

Garet burst out laughing and drummed on the table with his fist in hysterics. "Oh, Iris! Ivan, whatever did you do to your face?"

"Huh?" Ivan frowned in confusion. "I don't know what you're talking about."

"Did you get in my makeup kit?" Mia asked.

"I think you should look in a mirror," Isaac said, hiding a smile as he did so.

Ivan slowly rose to his feet and ran out of the kitchen, still hearing Garet's hysterical laughter as he ran towards the nearest mirror. Ivan shakily leaned forwards to look into the mirror and then he screamed. The reason why he screamed was simple. His lips had been painted bright red, his eyelids had a helping of smoky powder and his cheeks had been glossed over with a tint of pink. In other words, someone had used Mia's makeup on him without him knowing.

"Cute, isn't it?" Menardi trilled from behind him. She laughed and reached out, pinching his cheek with her cold finger and thumb. Ivan winced at the touch. "I think it suits you."

"I can't believe you!" Ivan bit his lip, his eyes prickling with tears. He ran away, almost crying at the horror of having been embarrassed in such a way.

"Am I good at this or what?" Menardi smirked in satisfaction. "Now what to do next?"

* * *

Being a woman and therefore having most of the privileges over the boys, mostly because she had demanded it be so, Mia was first to get to bathe. She sank down into the tub, sighing in contentment as she languished in the hot, steaming water. Mia reached out for the soap and started rubbing it over her body, working it up into a lather. Eventually, a cold prickle ran up her neck and Mia frowned. For some reason, she could not relax even with a nice hot bath. It felt like someone was watching her. But she had locked the door...

Realisation hit Mia. She gasped and sank further into the tub until she hid her body from view and turned around to look accusingly at the intruder. Saturos leaned casually against the wall, staring at her with a mildly fascinated gaze.

"Being a ghost has some perks," Saturos said with a shrug.

"Get out of here, you pervert!" Mia screamed in disgust, flinging the bar of soap at Saturos. The soap simply passed through him and bounced off the wall.

"Jeez, you're touchy," Saturos said, looking offended as he floated through the wall.

Mia shuddered in revulsion, gritting her teeth angrily. She could almost put up with the ghosts despite their love of Babi's trashy novels, but now this was just going too far. At this rate, they were going to have to get rid of these ghosts. Sooner rather than later. But how could you get rid of a ghost? Mia pressed her lips together and leaned against the tub in silent thought.

* * *

Isaac was walking through the corridor of the ship when Menardi suddenly appeared in front of him, gliding through the wall. He tried to walk past her but Menardi just walked backwards in step with him, smiling seductively at him. Isaac looked at her expression and shuddered. For some reason, she was creeping him out.

"Has anybody told you how cute you are?" Menardi asked.

"Huh?" Isaac stopped in his tracks and blinked at her, stupefied. "What are you talking about?"

"I think you're very sweet," Menardi said in a serious voice, stepping right up to him until her red eyes were gazing straight into his blue ones. "You are a sweet and caring person who will do anything if you believe it is right. You also have a young, boyish look that makes you seem very cute."

"I... ahh... what?" Isaac spluttered. "Why are you complimenting me?"

"I like you, Isaac," Menardi said, dropping her voice so that it almost sounded deep and somewhat sultry. She reached out with a cold hand and placed it upon Isaac's cheek. "I wish we could have been better friends in the past."

Isaac could only stare at her in utter confusion as he tried to get around what she was saying. It almost sounded like a conversation out of those bad romance novels. Menardi suddenly leaned in to kiss him and Isaac let out a yelp as he felt cold lips press gently against his own. The startled Venus Adept backed away, staring at her in fright and horror.

"Stay away from me, you creepy woman!" Isaac screamed in a hysterical voice, running past her at a high speed. He didn't even look back as he charged towards the deck. Menardi watched him go with an evil smile on her face then she leaned back and laughed heartily. This sure was fun.

* * *

Garet was sitting on the couch with an agonised expression on his face. Saturos paced around him and stared quizzically at him, feeling quite confused. Garet did not seem like the kind of person who would be sitting on the couch and possibly angsting. In the end, Saturos sat down next to him with a concerned expression on his face.

"What's the matter, Garet?" Saturos asked. "You can tell me."

"Ugh... okay," Garet sighed, forgetting for a moment he was speaking with his dead archenemy. "It's Mia."

"Mia?" Saturos repeated. "You're sad about Mia?"

"Well, I like her," Garet admitted, biting his bottom lip. "But I don't know how to... I dunno, make her like me more. Should I compliment her or something?"

"I'd be careful about complimenting women if I were you," Saturos said, a sly smile creeping on his face. "Women are funny when it comes to compliments."

"Huh?" Garet stared at Saturos. "Whatever do you mean?"

"For example." Saturos leaned back casually. "Many people think women like to be flattered. This is in fact not true. A woman does not like to be told that they are beautiful or thin. This will give them the impression that you are only seeing what's outside. They may even think you do not care what's inside."

"So... I shouldn't compliment her?" Garet frowned.

"No," Saturos replied. "In fact, you should tell her she looks very bad on the outside and that you care more about what's inside. For example, you could tell her that she is fat."

"Mia isn't really fat," Garet said. "She's slim. I think she is under all those robes."

"Indeed, she is," Saturos said, smiling wickedly. "But telling her that will make her feel happy. Because she knows she is slim, she'll know you're wrong about her on the outside and that really you are seeing only what's inside, which is what is most important."

"Okay..." Garet seemed a little confused however.

"And you could also tell her that she is ugly," Saturos said. "On the outside, however. Reassure her that she may be fat and ugly on the outside, but inside, she is truly beautiful. She will love you for that, when she realises you only care about what's inside. That's what matters the most."

"Okay!" Garet exclaimed. "So I have to tell Mia that she's fat and ugly and she'll like me more?"

Saturos nodded.

"Great!" Garet grinned and jumped to his feet. "I'll tell her right now. Thanks, Saturos."

Saturos was barely able to contain the laughter and when Garet left the room, he eventually let it out. Menardi walked up to the couch and leaned on it, tutting.

"That was mean, Saturos," Menardi said. "He actually believed you."

"I can't believe how stupid he is," Saturos said. "Let's go and watch."

* * *

Mia was surprised when Garet ran in front of her breathlessly and told her to stand still. He stood in front of her, looking awkward.

"Mia. I've been wanting to tell you some things for a while now," Garet said nervously. "I think I'm ready to say them now, so please listen."

"I'm listening," Mia said dryly. "Go ahead."

"Mia..." Garet paused. "I think that you are the fattest, ugliest girl I have ever seen." He said all this with a big smile on his face and hope shining in his big brown eyes.

Mia gasped in shock.

"But it doesn't matter how fat and ugly you are," Garet said quickly. "On the inside, you are truly beautiful. So please don't feel bad about being fat and ugly. I only care about what's inside."

Mia had blanked him out in her shock, having stopped listening at the words 'fattest and ugliest'. She stared at Garet in shock and rage, her vision going red. With a swift movement, she raised her hand which glowed blue and she screamed, "ICE MISSILE!"

Garet cried out in shock and leaped back just in time to avoid the spears of ice crashing down in front of him. He looked fearfully into Mia's hate-filled blue eyes and recognised danger. The terrified Garet screamed and ran, Mia pursuing him as they ran through the corridor. Ice continued to crash down behind Garet as Mia flung attack after attack at his retreating back. Eventually, Ivan heard the commotion and ran out into the corridor, only just stopping Mia from blasting Garet who had tripped and fallen.

"Mia, why are you attacking Garet?" Ivan held her hands tightly as she strained to get at Garet. "Mia!"

"He called me fat and ugly!" Mia screeched. "Let go of me, I'm going to tear him to shreds!"

"Garet!" Ivan exclaimed, looking at Garet in shock. "How could you say such a thing to Mia?"

"But... but..." Garet got to his feet. "Saturos told me to! He told me Mia would like to hear that stuff... I was trying to impress her by saying nice things, and that's what he told me to say!"

"Saturos told you to call Mia fat and ugly?" Ivan asked.

"Uh-huh," Garet said, nodding. "Saturos said she wouldn't want to hear she was beautiful or anything on the outside, that she would be happy knowing I only cared about what she was like inside."

"Garet... you idiot!" Mia hissed. "I can't believe how stupid you are! And if you wanted love advice, why would you ask Saturos of all people?"

"I didn't realise Saturos was lying," Garet whimpered.

Saturos and Menardi floated through a wall, pointing and laughing at him. Garet looked at them tearfully and then ran out to the deck. Ivan and Mia simply glared at Saturos and Menardi and wordlessly followed Garet out onto the deck where he was now crying out his sad tale to Isaac.

"Oh, honestly, Garet." Isaac shook his head. "You should have asked me. Actually... I've had enough of them."

"Me too!" Garet said. "I want them off here! I can't believe what Saturos did!"

"Menardi kissed me," Isaac said, shuddering at the memory. "Ugh..."

"Saturos watched me when I was bathing," Mia said angrily. "That pervert. A locked door wouldn't keep him out."

"And Menardi put make-up on me," Ivan said sadly. "Isaac, I'm sick of those ghosts hanging around us."

Isaac, Garet, Ivan and Mia clustered together in a group and discussed the plan. They were just reaching Atteka now, where the Jupiter Lighthouse was. An island surely had to have ships available, so they could at least afford to get rid of the Romance ship. Eventually, they came up with their plan as they reached the shore.

The ship came to a halt and Isaac, Mia and Ivan silently sneaked off. Garet stayed behind a moment to set fire to the cabin and everything that was flammable, then quickly leaped off the ship and followed his companions as they hurried away through Atteka dock, leaving the Romance ship alone with the ghosts.

"Hey, Menardi, do you smell smoke?" Saturos frowned.

"I think so," Menardi said. "Fire?"

Saturos and Menardi slunk towards the smoke and were greeted with a raging inferno. They screamed as the fire consumed the entire ship with them on it. Babi's trashy novels were lost forever as the ship was reduced to cinders and sank to the bottom of the sea bed, along with the ghosts. And that was what happened to Isaac's ship.


End file.
